LIVERPOOL City Council's opposition leader has called for an independent probe after it emerged that a home connected to Liverpool Direct boss David McElhinney has been searched by police under warrant.
"There must be an independent inquiry in public into the relationship between Liverpool and Lancashire Council," insisted Cllr Richard Kemp in a letter to Liverpool's chief executive, Ged Fitzgerald.
His comments came after police examining alleged financial irregularities at Lancashire County Council raided addresses in Southport and Knowsley linked to McElhinney and Phil Halsall, the former Liverpool city treasurer and latterly chief exec of Lancashire County Council. Nobody was arrested.
Phil HalsallHalsall was suspended and then resigned from his £190,000 post at Lancashire last year in the wake of an investigation alleging favouritism into the awarding of a fleet maintenance contract to One Connect. The company had been set up by one-time colleague McElhinney as the Lancashire equivalent of Liverpool Direct, the city council’s joint venture with BT.
In a letter to Liverpool Chief Executive Ged Fitzgerald, whose vacant job Halsall took at Lancashire, Cllr Kemp says: “Given the gravity of the events in Lancashire, we must explain the tangled skein of the relationship between our council and theirs. It is increasingly untenable for us to continue with a 'hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil approach'.
It went on: “David is a Liverpool employee. Some sort of agreement was entered into between Liverpool and Lancashire to share the time of him and others. Lancashire have a different take on what was agreed than you do and frankly I do not know which version of the truth to believe.
Surprised
“I believe that the time has now come to hold a full and joint enquiry in public with contributions from both the political and managerial leadership of both councils. I believe that this is the only way to ensure that a full understanding is reached for the good of taxpayers at both ends. I have a number of ideas as to how this might be done were you to agree such an approach.
“Secondly, I am surprised that Liverpool councillors were not kept informed of events surrounding a senior council employee. Did you know that the search had been undertaken? Have you had detailed discussions with David about this? Have you considered what action it is appropriate to take and if your decision was to take no action, would you please tell me why.”
McElhinney, who remains in charge of LDL, quit his £40,000, two-and-a-half-days-a-week role with One Connect shortly after he was paid more than £600,000 for his work there, allegedly without the knowledge of Lancashire County finance chiefs.
The One Connect partnership was brokered under Tory rule but scrapped by the now-ruling Labour group at County Hall.
A third individual thought to be connected to Lancashire County Council also had their property in Fulwood, Preston, searched.
Liverpool City Council says no payment is made by the authority to Dr McElhinney.
